As always, I give all credit for the idea of this post to the late journalist Sydney J. Harris, who would occasionally include something he called “Things I Learned While Looking Up Other Things” in his syndicated column. This is a post about words and phrases. As a writer, these are my building blocks, so […]
Read more "Facts About Words and Phrases Learned While Looking Up Other Things"A conversation I may have had . . . “Let’s just agree to disagree,” Steve said. I shook my head. I’m certain my expression showed my disgust. “What?” Steve said. “What’s up with that look?” “‘Let’s just agree to disagree,’” I repeated. “When someone says that, what they mean is ‘I’m right, you’re wrong, and […]
Read more "Let’s Agree to Disagree"On television, it is popular to characterize nerds as people who dedicate too much time to minutiae. I haven’t watched Big Bang Theory in a couple of seasons, but I remember that Sheldon hosted a web series about flags. And on The Middle (a show I still watch, which is completing its final season […]
Read more "Stranger Fonts (a minor digression about typeface design)"I like words. Words are how we communicate. And they are the closest we have to magic. If you record your thoughts in the form of words, they will live on after your body is dead. That’s magic. I used the word “doozy” in a review I wrote recently. It’s a word that I was […]
Read more "Doozy"Norange? I’m either going to believe everything I read on the Internet—a dangerous proposition, if ever there was one—or I’m going to doubt the veracity of everything I hear, read, and/or see. Experience is the greatest teacher, and it has instructed me that the latter path is the most prudent. I read that the humble […]
Read more "Rhymes with Norange"Psalms 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Job 14 Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. . . Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. It’s not my intention to preach. […]
Read more "Time’s Up"You live near a major body of water. You feel as though you’ve reached a crossroads in your life. You dislike mean people. You’re learning to stop blaming your parents for everything wrong with yourself or in your life. You sometimes feel lonely even in a crowded room. At some point in your life, you […]
Read more "20 Things About You"